Improvement in railway-car brakes



` is to enter.

`presses the push-pin back and allows the i UNT-TED STATES PATENT @EEicE LYMAN ALPHONZO RUSSELL, 0F SHREWSBURY, VERMONT.

1M PR'ovEM ENT |N RAILWAY-CAR BRAKES.

i Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 112,499, dated March 7, 1871.

l To all 'whom t may concern:

i Rutland and State of Vermont, have invented a new and Improved Gar-Brake; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full', clear, and

exact 4description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanyy ing drawing, forming part of this specification.

. My invention relates to car-brakes 5 and consists in certain improvements thereon, which willbe first described in connection with whatever will tend to render them more intelligible, and then be clearly pointed out in the claims.

Figure l is a plan view of the bottom of a car with my improvements applied to it, some `of the parts being in section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionlof thesame, taken on the line w w; and Fig. 3 is a section on the line y y.

A is the shackle. It is made with long slats for the coupling-pin B, and is curved horizontally and vertically at the ends C, so that, by the spring-actuated push-pins D pressing `against thesaid ends and forcing the end walls o'f the slots against the pins, the said shackles will be held either in the axial line of the buffer E or obliquely thereto, for entering the carto be coupled.

E is a weight, arranged in .a recess in the buffer to rest on the inner end of the shackle and hold it in a horizontal line when connected at one end only. This weighthas an oblique side at the rear, against which push-pin comes y and raises it, when the shackle is disconnected to hold it up out'of thewaywhen the shackle The entrance of the shackle weight to fall on theend, where it remains `and holds the said shackle in the horizontal position as long as it is connected by the pin i `D. This push-pin D acts at the rear end on the lever H, pivoted at I, and projecting through a slot into the recess in the buffer in which the said pin slides, and behind it, at the otherend, the said lever carries a pulley-sup porting block, K,ipassing through it horizontally, and capable of sliding back and forth.

. The arm of this pulley-block has a coiled sprin g,

L, placed on it between a holding-pin, M, at

`theend and side of the lever H.

M is a cord or chain, connected at N with the brake, of ordinary construction, and passing over the pulley O in the block K, thence back to the pulley P, attached to the frame, and thence to the common brake-shaft Q, arranged for winding it up in the usual way, and with the ordinary ratchet-wheel R and pawl S.

When the forward car or locomotive slacks up and forces the shackle back against the push-pin, the latter, acting on the lever H, the block K, and pulley O, will, in case the cord is wound upon the shaft Q sufficiently and held by the ratchet and pawl, force the cord or chain N forward and bring the brakes into action; but if it bedesired not to bring the brake into action, the cord or chain may be let out by the shaft Q, so that the action of the lever H will not move the brake.

By this arrangement, the shafts G heilig properly set, the engineer or a brakeman on a forward car, by braking up the locomotive or forward car inthe ordinary way, may set all the other brakes of the train in actionthat is, in case of running on a level or.down grade, where the rear cars will come together when the others are slacked up; but, in case of going up a grade, the brake of a rear car should be brought into action first by a brakeman, as well as the front car or locomotive.

It will be seen, also, that by this arrangement the back-actin g force of the cars coming together, usually all delivered on the bufferA spring T, is divided between it and the spring L, as no material amount of force can be applied to the buffer until the lever H- is forced against the spring L sufliciently'to allow the end wall of the slot in the shackle to come against the pin B. The spring L also relieves -the cord or chain N of the undue -strains to which it would .be subjected if the lever H were rigidly connected to the pulley-block K.

The spring of the pushpin maintains a pressure on the shackle of sufficient force to hold it by the frictional contact of the parts in any direction in which it may be set.

rhe brakeshaft Q may be set for causing the brake to be acted automatically or not, and it'may be painted in different colors or have any other distinguishing sign to show which way it is set.

The push-pin holds the coupling-pin up till 2 ll2,l199

the shackle enters, and it falls into the slot of the pin.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. The spiral spring` Working inside the buffer E, the lever H, pivoted at I, and the spring L on the movable block K, all combined, as described, with push-pin D `in the buffer, to receive the back-acting force on said pin, in the manner specified.

2. The springs T L and lever H, combined, as described, with the movable buffer E, for the purpose of dividing` up the strain thereon 

